Scenarios: After HSM One Shot
by adcgordon
Summary: When the famed trilogy is done, can our favorite couple stay together?


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Okay, so this is kind of a Scenarios, but a one shot. I won't bore you with excuses. I am trying to continue the Scenarios: Hawaii story, but my mind just can't get focused on it.

**This one is a little darker (I think) than my other stories have been. Stick with it…it's not that long. After watching the HSM dvd my mind just took a turn toward this idea, and this is the outcome.**

**Read, enjoy and review! **

**And as always...I own, unfortunately, nothing of HSM, the characters or the actors and actresses. I admire and respect everyone, especially the wonderful production crew who brought this generation-changing phenomena into our lives!**

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"So, that's that, huh?" Zac turned to look at Vanessa as he turned the tv off. Instead of an answer he just heard a faint sniffle coming from the other side of the couch. He knew she was crying. "Aww, come on Ness, don't tell me you're crying again. Didn't we shed enough tears when we actually finished that last scene?"

"How can you _not_ be emotional Zac? You cried there too, even if you won't admit it." She said as her tears started to subside. "You may think this is going down in history as a chick flick, but you know it's more than that." Vanessa snubbed and then jumped up off the couch and went into the bathroom.

The couple had just finished watching the DVD of their last movie together, _High School Musical 3._ The DVD had just been released that day and Vanessa had made Zac purchase one as soon as it hit the shelves. That evening she insisted on watching it. Besides being in the movie, they had attended so many premiers for the big-screen event that they knew it like they had come to know each other, intimately. But the end of the DVD held some extras that they hadn't seen. Ones that they had filmed, but hadn't seen edited together. That's what had caught Vanessa a little off guard.

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything. You know that." _Stupid, stupid! Zac you gotta think before you talk about this!_ Zac berated himself. He knew how upset Vanessa was about the end of this trilogy. He was a little sad himself, knowing the two of them weren't guaranteed to do another movie together. And, he had to admit that scared him a little. But he didn't want to let Vanessa know that.

"Nessa?" she still hadn't answered Zac since going into the bathroom at his house. "Come on Baby. Let's just crawl into bed and we can talk about this. I swear I'll listen and not say something stupid again, okay? I'm sorry!" Still nothing from Vanessa.

They hadn't started the movie until almost ten, once they had gotten back from dinner at a friend's house. So by the time they watched the extended version of the movie and the extras, it was well after midnight.

Finally, Vanessa emerged from the bathroom with tears still in her eyes. But she wasn't in her pajamas. She did have one of Zac's shirts on, which was common sleepwear for her, but she also had on her sweats and tennis shoes as though she was going out.

"Where are you going?" Zac asked. Now he was feeling really ashamed for what he said after the movie.

"I'm just gonna go back to my place. I'm not sure I can sleep much right now and I don't want to keep you up." Vanessa walked toward the door trying her best not to actually look at Zac.

Ever since they had returned from Japan Vanessa had an odd, empty feeling inside of her. It was something she couldn't put her finger on, but it just kept tugging at her heart. It was something with the end of the HSM trilogy. That much she knew. But now it was almost an overwhelming feeling and she wanted to figure out what it was. And she wanted to do that alone.

"Vanessa…Vanessa Anne!" Zac raised his voice and used her full name to try and get her attention. She still wouldn't look at him. He grabbed her by the arm and forced her to turn around but she still wouldn't make eye contact with him. "Let me come with you. We'll stay at your place if you're more comfortable there tonight. That's fine with me. Just let me grab my shoes."

"No!" Vanessa started. They had only spent a couple of nights apart since returning from Japan. Even though she didn't _want_ to spend the night away from Zac, she felt like she needed to. "No." she said a little more softly. "I'm just gonna be replaying scenes again in my head and I may watch the DVD again. You don't wanna go through this all over again, do you?"

Zac bit his lip. He would never understand the female mind. _Why torture yourself by watching something that you _ _**know** _ _ is going to make you cry?_ He thought. "Well at least let me take you home. I'm not letting you go by yourself. Your car's at your house and you are _NOT_ walking. Not at this time of the night."

Vanessa conceded, but still wouldn't look at Zac's face. "Fine. You win. Give a helpless crying woman a ride to her house, please." She certainly didn't try to cover the sarcasm in her voice.

Zac ignored the comment and put his sliders on. He grabbed his keys and handed Vanessa her bag as they went to the car. The drive to her house, two streets over, was less than three minutes but nothing was said along the short route.

When they reached Vanessa's drive she hurriedly unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed the door handle to get out of the car.

"Whoa, wait just a minute." Zac grabbed her arm again and this time used his other hand to tip her chin up to look in his face. "Ness, what's going on here? This is more than reacting to the movie. You're gonna get out of the car without a kiss, a goodbye or anything? What's up?"

She finally looked into his eyes and blinked back a few more tears. _That's exactly what I need to figure out._ She thought to herself. "I don't know." She answered Zac and gave him a soft quick kiss on the lips. "I'll…I'll call you in the morning, ok?"

Zac nodded to his girlfriend knowing that he wouldn't wait for her call. He would be at her house again in the morning before she woke up. He was now contemplating spending the night in his car outside her house. Vanessa wasn't acting like herself and he was worried.

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Zac watched as she escaped through the garage door and into the house. He stayed in the driveway watching the garage door close and waiting for a light to come on in her bedroom upstairs. Once he saw the faint lamp-light through the second window from the corner he backed out of the driveway and headed home.

Three years. That's how long the two had been dating. Their relationship had become more intense after periods of separation, much like any other couple on earth. However they had been in the spotlight for that entire time. That had caused them to deny their relationship at first. It was a solid year before they would admit anything more than 'we're just good friends.'

Their onscreen chemistry had attracted fans worldwide. That coupled with their off-screen friendship had just driven their made-for-tv movies into the record books. When they admitted they were dating it only made the numbers go higher. Each of the young adults had seriously considered _not_ doing the third movie, but decided they owed it to their fans. And if they were honest, they were thrilled to be working together yet again.

Zac and Vanessa cherished each moment they had been able to work together. They loved each second that the movies had caused them to spend together. And it wasn't just rehearsing, filming, or being on location together. It was also the amazing worldwide trips they had been able to take, together, to publicize the event. As trying as those moments could be, with all the fans and all the paparazzi, it was still time they spent together.

Zac had seen a change in Vanessa since they returned from Japan. That was the final trip they had taken to promote HSM3. Yes, the DVD was now out, but the promotion for that was all held to taped, on-screen advertisements. He was relieved that it didn't involve more travel. After the Japan trip, both his and Vanessa's contracted duties with Disney were done. Now they had a few weeks to concentrate on each other before he headed out to another movie set.

As Zac climbed into his own bed alone that night he couldn't help but worry about his dark-haired girlfriend. Something just didn't seem to be the same about her. He had chalked it up to jet lag when they first returned. Then p.m.s. had been an excuse. Now seeing the movie again. He was accepting the excuses but he wondered if there was something more.

He thought again about her being alone in her own house. That thought scared him, knowing that she was upset. It especially scared him because he was part of the reason she was upset. Then he realized something else. He put his fingers to his lips remembering that soft kiss. _I didn't tell her that I love her._

He glanced at the clock by his bed and realized it was already 1:15. Vanessa had said she wasn't tired. So he grabbed his phone and dialed her cell number.

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As soon as she walked into the house Vanessa knew that Zac was still waiting. He always waited when he dropped her off at her house. He wanted to make sure she made it upstairs ok. So she had gotten into the habit of turning on her bedside lamp to let him know she was fine. This night was no different, except that she wanted to make sure he left. She wouldn't let her emotions begin again until he had driven away.

So she made her way upstairs to her bedroom and turned on the lamp. She stood just close enough to the window to watch as his car backed out of her driveway and went down the street. Then the tears started to fall again.

_Something had hit Vanessa on the way home from Japan. She and Zac had been hand in hand as their return flight began. Both of them were anxious to get home. With just a few hours left in their flight they both drifted off to sleep. Vanessa had her head on Zac's shoulder with his hand resting on her knee._

_Her dream simply walked through the reality that they were going home to. She could see each of them designing their own homes. Zac already had rehearsals and filming set for his next movie and he had some other auditions lined up. She had kept her calendar open, hoping to spend some time recuperating from all the traveling they had done. _

_Then her mind wandered to the fact that she and Zac weren't guaranteed another movie together. This would be an easy time for them to 'graduate' and go different directions. Her dream took her to that scenario for the future. One that didn't include Zac as a boyfriend, but as a former boyfriend…an acquaintance that she might run into from time to time._

_She could see him in various different movies. She could see a number of leading ladies and potential girlfriends in his future. But in this dream she wasn't one of them. That had startled her and caused her to wake up shaking._

_Zac had slept through that episode. She had cautiously removed his hand from her leg and gone to the bathroom on the airplane. It took her several minutes to bring her mind back to reality and to calm her shaking nerves. _

_When she returned to her seat Zac was still sleeping. She decided then not to tell him about the dream. But try as she might, she couldn't shake it._

That's what had popped into her head after watching the DVD that night. The thought of losing Zac to other projects and other people had hit her like a ton of bricks. She could only think that she should start learning to live without him _right now_ instead of putting it off any longer.

The tears just kept coming as she made her way through the rooms of her house. Every one she walked into held some thought of Zac. Some bright spot or scent or reminder of what he means to her. When she got back to her bedroom and sat down on the bed she realized something else that made even more tears flow. _I forgot to tell him 'I love you' when I got out of the car._

The ringtone startled Vanessa but she wasn't asleep. She only hesitated to answer because of the tears that were still shaking her body. She knew it was Zac on the other end and knew she had to answer it or he would be right back over there. "He…Hello" she tried to answer calmly.

"Nessa? I forgot to tell you something when you got out of the car. I can't get to sleep without telling you. I-love-you." He could feel the tears falling from her face and her hands shaking.

"I love you too." She whispered through her tears. There was no way she could hide them from him now.

"Baby please tell me what's wrong. Please. Don't keep this from me. It's tearing you up, and that's killing me."

"I don't know if I can, Zac. I don't know if I really know what's going on myself." She cried.

"Well you're not doing this alone. Stay put. I'll be there in three minutes." With that he hung up the phone and grabbed his keys again. One of those keys was, of course, to Vanessa's house.

As promised he was there in three minutes. And within four minutes he was at her side in bed attempting to comfort her.

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Months before Zac and Vanessa had traveled with some of their other co-stars to various countries and locations for premier extravaganzas. They had enjoyed their time together. But after each location Zac thought Vanessa seemed just a little more distant than she had before. He couldn't help but think that he had done something wrong, or said something during interviews that had upset her.

_During their time on the road and out of country Zac had asked his agent to set up several auditions for him for various projects. He wanted to make sure he had a steady line of work for at least a while after HSM had finished. His agent had assured him that the work would come to him now; Zac didn't have to search for it. But Zac wanted to be sure. In his mind and heart, Zac wanted to make sure he would be able to support himself and Vanessa, and their family somewhere down the road._

_It was a thought that thrilled him to no end. He knew his loving girlfriend would make a wonderful fiancée and even more wonderful wife. But he wanted to try and make things perfect for them, before he would propose. He wanted a plan in mind. He was absolutely certain that he wanted to marry her, and he hoped that she felt the same. Still, without a financial plan and definite work lined up, he didn't want to propose._

_After the events in each country Vanessa would hear Zac on the phone with his agent talking about the plans that were coming together 'after Japan'. She heard the various lineups of auditions and knew of one movie that he was already going to be filming later in the year. She really wasn't sure what Zac was doing. She felt like he was trying to drown himself in his work. And she wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Did he want to get away from her, or was he afraid that she was going to leave him? Either way she was a little more discouraged each time she heard the phone calls._

_After those phone conversations Zac would return to her, hold her tightly and whisper his most loving words in her ears. She couldn't resist him when he did that. She couldn't hold onto the hurt feelings or push him away. Instead she gave in to him each time. His kisses, his touch, just being with him was all she wanted. And each time he whispered into her ear she was a victim of his sweetness. She knew her heart belonged to him._

_Vanessa was clinging to one hope. That somewhere, along their international journey, Zac would propose to her. She knew that a proposal from him would mean a future with him. She knew a proposal would give her the strength to dream about their future together. But he never said the words. He never even hinted at them. Japan was her last hope. After that their time together was done. If he didn't propose there, she didn't believe he ever would._

That was the root of her pain, Vanessa realized that night. She had clung to that one hope. Now, Japan was done, the contracts had been fulfilled and their time together was done.

She was very glad that she hadn't scheduled any auditions and just a few appearances. Because at this moment she wasn't sure which direction her life was going.

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For once, being in Zac's arms had not encouraged Vanessa to sleep. Instead, that night, she spent most of the time just soaking in his presence. She worked to memorize his scent, and the feel of his strong arms around her. How would she ever let him go? The way he was holding her now, could she let him go?

Zac slept, but not well. Each hour he felt Vanessa's grip on his arms tighten. He thought she was dreaming, not realizing that she hadn't fallen asleep. He kept his eyes closed and gently stroked her hair or rubbed her arm each time her grip tightened. When she loosened her grip he would fall back to sleep. He couldn't imagine what was going through her mind that had her so upset. But he knew they needed to get to the bottom of it before his run of auditions started.

As the sun rose that morning he awoke to a similar sight as the night before… Vanessa with tears in her eyes. He sat up in bed and put his hands on her warm, wet cheeks. "Nessa. Can you talk to me please? What have I done? What is upsetting you so much?"

Vanessa let her head rest in his hands for just a moment with her eyes closed. Then she raised her head, wanting to say just one thing. "I'm scared of losing you." She whispered.

"Wh-What?" Zac wasn't sure he had heard her correctly. Why would she think she was losing him?

Vanessa couldn't repeat the words. They were too painful coming from her lips the first time. She sat up in bed and turned her back toward Zac. "Can you just go home now, please?" she stumbled through the words.

Zac couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Ness, you're scared of losing me…but you want me to go home? I don't understand." He was feeling very frustrated, worried about her, and now he felt a little scared too. "I don't want to go home Baby. I want to stay right here with you and figure this out. You've gotta tell me what's changed between us since Japan."

Zac put his hand on her shoulder and urged her to turn around and face him. But she wouldn't do it. Instead she wrapped her own arms around her body to try and steady her nerves. She knew it was a futile attempt but she also knew she couldn't face him right now.

How could she explain to him what had changed? Her hope for a proposal had been just that, _her hope. _ She had never hinted to Zac that she was expecting him to propose. And it was certainly an issue that she didn't want to push. She had assumed he would ask her to marry him. And she assumed that he had had every opportunity he would have needed.

Zac watched as she sat up straighter, avoiding his touch. "I, I need to figure this out in my own mind Zac. I need to think about this clearly. And I can't do that with you here. Please, can you just go home?" This time her voice was quiet, but sounded a little more demanding.

"No." Was his simple answer. "You don't have to be in the same room with me, but I'm not leaving this house."

Before she could put any thought into it words rolled out of her mouth. "For God's sake Zac. The contracts are done. They're over with. You don't _have_ to spend any more time with me. We've touched, we've cuddled, we've done everything right to make this thing a hit. But the contracts are done. You don't have to pretend anymore. So please just go home!"

Zac nearly choked. He looked at her like a puppy that had just been scolded for rubbing against its owner. _Where did those words, those thoughts come from?_ That was the only thing going through his head. He tried to look into Vanessa's eyes, he wanted to see them to try and read her emotions. But this time she didn't just turn her back. She physically walked away from him.

Vanessa went into the bathroom and closed the door. Zac heard the lock turn and then silence. This time he heard no crying, no sniffling, no nothing, just silence. He couldn't find any words to say. Nothing made sense to him at the moment. The only thing he had the urge to do was puke.

She waited until she heard the front door close before exiting her bathroom. She looked out the window as Zac walked toward his car. He stopped and looked up to her bedroom window then doubled over. Vanessa could only turn her head away from the scene she was witnessing. He was throwing up in her front yard. Her own words started playing over again in her mind.

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What the hell have I done? I've given her every piece of my heart and mind and body. And she's telling me the contracts are done and I don't have to pretend. What the hell is going on?

Zac had finally made it home. The three minute drive had taken ten minutes as he fought with bouts of nausea rushing through him. He had dragged himself up to his bedroom and sprawled out on the queen-size bed. Vanessa's scent was on the comforter. Her nightshirt was on the dresser. Her pictures adorned nearly every empty space in the room.

Who was pretending? They had told each other that they loved each other. They had worked together, traveled together, slept together. '_Wait,' _ Zac thought, '_Is that it? We've slept together, actually slept…touched, shared a bed, sent each other into pure ecstasy…but we haven't actually had intercourse. Is that what this is about?"_

He was sure they had been on the same page about that. They had discussed this…they had decided to stay virgins until they were married. And that was what he was working toward. Didn't she know that?

He knew better than to go back to her house right now. Even though he was racked with the most horrible feeling he'd ever suffered. Even his appendicitis wasn't this painful. Zac knew what was happening. His heart was breaking. He wanted to see Vanessa. And if she wanted to make love to him he would gladly oblige. In his mind Zac knew that wasn't what was going on. But to save his life, he couldn't figure it out.

He lay in bed for two hours with thoughts of all kinds roaming his brain. He had thrown up half a dozen times. Every time the thought of Vanessa leaving him entered his head, his stomach started churning. Moments later the thought of making love to her would calm him down. He finally realized that he was spiraling out of control and he hadn't even picked up the phone to try and call her.

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I just accused him of pretending to love me. The one man that I really love and I just pushed him away. I've just sealed my own fate.

Vanessa wasn't sure if it was exhaustion or her utter stupidity that made her pass out. But she was sure it was one of them. She woke up to the sound of her phone ringing two hours later. She flipped the phone open but didn't say a word. She knew who was on the other end.

"Vanessa I know you're there. I have puked my guts out wondering what I've done to upset you and I don't know. Tell me why you think I've been pretending…what am I pretending? To love you??? When you are all that I think about twenty-four hours a day. I would have done that last movie for free just to work with you again. Don't you know that? I don't care about the freaking contracts."

Vanessa closed the phone. She tried to let his words soak into her brain. She wanted to feel them in her numb heart. She heard every word but they just weren't sinking in.

The phone rang again.

"Go ahead, hang up on me again. I'm not going to keep calling back Vanessa Anne Hudgens. I'm coming back to your house and I'm coming into the house and we're going to figure this out together! If you're the one pretending, that's fine. Tell me that. You don't want to marry me, fine…tell me that. But don't string me along and don't put this charade over on me."

This time Zac hung up. Vanessa knew he was on his way back to her house.

Two words in his last tirade had actually broken through to her heart and soul. 'Marry me.'

She somehow floated down the stairs and unlocked her front door. She waited for him there for just another minute until his black Audi pulled into her driveway. As soon as he stepped out of the car she opened the door. And as soon as he set foot inside her door she kissed him.

For a moment Zac forgot that he was angry. His mind rushed to his first instinct, the one that wanted to make love to Vanessa. His body reacted to hers and his hands started groping. He stopped suddenly realizing that he wanted to scream at her. He was still in the dark, wondering why she had pushed him away.

He tried to contain his emotions and his physical needs for the moment. Zac took Vanessa's flushed face in his hands and pushed her backwards, forcing her to look at him.

"Open your eyes and look at me Vanessa." He ordered through gritted teeth. She could feel his anger and his frustration through the sound of his voice. So she forced herself to open her eyes.

Zac continued, looking straight into her eyes while he pressed himself against her. "I've given you…every part of me…except one." He struggled to keep himself and his frustration under control. "I am willing…to give you _that part_ of me too…right now. If that's what you want."

He was still holding her face tightly between his palms and felt her struggle too. Vanessa could see the restraint in his eyes amid the fire, and yet there was still love there. She wanted to go back and recant everything that she had said to him earlier. Right now that wasn't possible.

She shook her head at him and shyly looked off to the side of them. "I, I thought we wanted to save that part until we were married." She was barely able to say the words out loud.

Zac took a step backwards as she looked at him again. "I thought so too. I didn't think we needed to make love, yet, for you to know that I truly love you. But after what you said, it sounds like you don't believe that anymore."

Now Vanessa's tears returned. But this time instead of turning her back she reached out to Zac. "Nessa, honey, please talk to me."

As she sobbed into his shoulder she began to tell him about the dream she had had on the return flight from Japan. "I figured you wanted to get away from me when you started making all the plans for auditions and stuff. I really started believing that everything we had together was completely for the publicity…for HSM. Us being together really made the movie jump off the charts…and that made money for both of us."

Vanessa bit her lip and looked away from Zac's face. "When you didn't propose to me in Japan, I just started getting the feeling that I really didn't matter…that the money and fame were more important to you. Especially when you started lining up all the auditions."

The realization finally struck Zac. "That's what this is about. Isn't it? Every stop we made on the tour you seemed a little farther away from me." His voice was nearly a whisper. "You were waiting for me to propose to you, every time."

"I know it's too soon, Zac. I know I just let my imagination get away from me. I don't want you to feel pressured by me. I know you love me, I really do now."

"Do you really want to know why I didn't ask you?" Zac brought their faces back together, leaning his forehead against hers.

"No." she said immediately, not wanting to hear his answer. "Yes." She quickly corrected, then she interrupted herself yet again. "Only if you want to tell me…and only if you don't think it'll hurt my feelings. I can't take much more right now."

Zac wrapped his arms around her and started unveiling to her his plan for the future. "I _don't_ want to be away from you at all. I want you to go to every audition with me and be on location with me for every movie. But I know that's not possible. I don't want to take your career away from you. But I know you love singing more than acting. And if I can make enough money with a few more movies, then you can concentrate on your music when _we_ get married. And especially once _we_ start a family…I don't want you to think that you _have _ to be running to auditions or anything like that when you should be concentrating…when _we_ should be concentrating on our babies. I just thought we could get the money-making part of things over with now, so later we can just concentrate on each other.

Vanessa noticed his emphasis every time he said 'we'. That was more than enough reinforcement for her to drift back into reality and out of her nightmarish world that had plagued her for weeks.

"Why couldn't you have told me this plan months ago?" She asked softly.

"Because months ago I was too preoccupied with our worldwide tour and the fact that we got to spend every moment together. Maybe we should've discussed marriage a little more seriously."

"You know, the last time we discussed it seriously was in Hawaii two years ago."

Zac pulled up the chain that stayed constantly around his neck. The same chain that housed the promise ring that Vanessa had given him on that trip to Hawaii. Vanessa flaunted her right hand in front of Zac to show him that she too was still wearing the ring he gave to her.

"I guess we both need to take these a little more seriously. At least until your actual engagement ring is finished." Zac smiled.

Vanessa's eyes widened with delight. "You're having an engagement ring _made_ for me?"

"Well, that was my plan. I may have to rethink that plan now though." Zac let his smile fade intentionally.

"What? No! Please don't. I promise, no more thoughts of you pretending…no more thoughts of us breaking up. Please don't rethink this." Vanessa said earnestly.

Zac pulled her into a tight hug and covered her with kisses. "You're not getting away from me that easily Gabriella." Vanessa flinched at the use of her HSM character's name.

"And, Troy, what's that supposed to mean?" She hesitated as she used Zac's character's name.

"It means, you will always be my Gabriella. You are my first love, and the woman that I would go after, anywhere in this world, to keep. Troy wouldn't let Gabriella say 'goodbye' to him, not even for college. You can bet I'm not going to let go of you either."

With that the two returned to Vanessa's bedroom upstairs. They held each other close as they climbed back into bed, and finally settled in for a long and peaceful sleep.

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**Read, enjoy and review! I promise I'll try to take my mind back to Hawaii and get more of that out soon! Thanks for sticking with me.**


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